integrate with the social media and much more, take a look at SBI/Sitesell. Tens of thousands happy members have built sites that end up in the 2-3% top traffic sites in the world. Over 300,000 Facebook supporters. Classes taught in over 30 universities around the world. Check out the CTPM process that makes it all happen: http://ctpm.sitesell.com/welcome23.html

Social media is one of the most effective ways for you and your business to get more traffic and generate new leads. Having a presence on all the major networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is a necessity these days for any business. But what tools are the social media gurus actually using to manage these multiple accounts?

Thank you for your very useful information Wendy. I think you said what many people need to know to find their way in the social media world where the plethora of tools makes things, sometimes, complicated.

All these tools keep "leap-frogging" each other in terms of functionality so I just keep an eye on several of them which is where this community comes in useful to see what others think and are using :)

integrate with the social media and much more, take a look at SBI/Sitesell. Tens of thousands happy members have built sites that end up in the 2-3% top traffic sites in the world. Over 300,000 Facebook supporters. Classes taught in over 30 universities around the world. Check out the CTPM process that makes it all happen: http://ctpm.sitesell.com/welcome23.html

Are you thinking about putting your business on Instagram? Are you looking for content ideas for this increasingly popular mobile social platform? Read further to discover how you can use Instagram to give your business extra visibility and better engage with the Instagram community.

Social networks go in and out of style.Pinterest is all the rage this year. While Facebook stock is at an all-time low. And there's a new "must-use" tool that pops up every other week.Fortunately, none of that really matters.

Stories and the art of storytelling play a major role in content marketing today. Not all brands realize the importance of unearthing their core story and learning to tell stories in ways that endear new fans and motivate advocates. In case you need even more reason to learn to weave an effective narrative throughout your marketing efforts, here are seven reasons storytelling is important for branded content.

This post is quick and easy to digest -- because you can get all the messages by viewing the photos. What a great example of using visuals in a blog post to create easy to scan, more compelling and enjoyable content.

Learn how to perform a social media competitive analysis so you can assess where you stand and make strides to improve.

When asked back in '07 how many of them were using social media in their marketing, only 20% of marketers raised their hand. Fast forward to today, and a whopping 90% of US marketers claimed social media as part of their marketing strategy in 2012.

Nearly all of the web communication challenges I’ve encountered with the groups I’ve worked with stem from basic content planning and governance issues.

People come to your website, first and foremost, to get information, so Content Strategy is relevant for any communications work you do. Your organizational content should be intentional.

Duh, right? But, the reality is we’ve gotten carried away – I know I’ve been guilty – with focusing our energy on visual design and functionality. You know: making sure the colors are perrrfect, then dropping in web content at the last minute in hopes of making our websites look "full."

Truth is, content is messy, and the politics, governance issues, and discussions around it can be complicated and time-consuming. We’re all afraid to go there. But we need to.

Social media photos: how to expand your social media presence with photos that attract and engage readers.

Photos are eye-candy that attract and engage readers with your offering. As the Jack (or Jill) of all trades, small business owners tend to have limited budgets—and more importantly, time—to promote their business. Therefore, each marketing element must effectively drive results.

Comprehensive social media (brand) monitoring & performance optimization can be a daunting task. Tools and technology change like the wind -- and new players come and go so quickly. To be effective, smart marketers should have a wide array of tools at their disposal -- tools that are not always exclusive to 'social media' tools per se.

For example, SlideShare is a hidden marketing jewel. Not only is it a wonderful social content sharing platform where savvy marketers can syndicate branded content, but it provides lots of free social statistics to justify your time & effort. Here's a link to a recent blog post, 8 Simple Reasons to Promote Your Brand On SlideShare, that explains some of the marketing benefits of using SlideShare.

I always suggest scheduling updates. It is a small thing you can do that saves a lot of time and energy. All by allowing you to create a full list of status updates at once, to be released at certain times. This is especially helpful if your primary target base is in a different time zone, or if you want to hit a certain hour, even when you’re not available.

All you need is the right program, and there are plenty to choose from.

In this Post, Debra Ashkanase has also used Seth Godin's, “The Circles of Marketing,” in which he states that marketing is not buzz or followers, but an entire ecosystem surrounding the product itself.

Intrigued, Debra considered how The Circles of Marketing could be modified for nonprofit social media marketing. Here the nonprofit marketer’s iteration, begins with The Cause.

As shown in this Infographic

The outer circle: Most nonprofit marketing consultants and team members are hired to do: create buzz, ads, word of mouth, “virality” using social media, increase the number of social media fans/followers/connections. This is just the tip of the iceberg in marketing. However, most nonprofit marketing professionals are hired to primarily focus on the outer circle and that this is the final circle of work, not the first.

The second circle: The real marketing time should be spent. This circle is focused on creating a community that cares most about your cause, and can help you to promote it. Included in this circle are the elements needed to create an engaged online community around your cause: defining what people really want to talk about; crafting the 'story of the cause', developing an online community that cares passionately about your cause, and supporting all of this with excellent content (your organization’s content + crowd-contributed content). The next circle just outside of the center is the basis for its adjacent second circle. These are the factors that surround the cause itself, and affect the perception of interest in the cause. Timeliness of the issue, the need for a solution to the problem, and public interest in the cause all affect how The Cause is perceived. This is the circle that executive directors, program staff, fundraisers, and founders will want to continuously review and consider. If perception of a problem does not exist, then the you will need to revise your story. If the issue is no longer timely, that will affect interest, The Conversation, community involvement, etc.

The innermost circle is "The Cause" note The Organization. description of the innermost “When the thing you sell has communication built in, when it is remarkable and worth talking about, when it changes the game—marketing seems a lot easier.” [Seth Godin]

The first goal of internet marketing is getting people's attention. But there's too much noise today. And it's only getting worse. Your potential customers have thousands of things to pay attention to.

Too often, in my agency's experience, we're seeing social media being treated as a list of boxes to be checked off rather than a powerful way of building awareness, communicating with consumers and ultimately selling more stuff! The sooner we stop believing these five myths the better:

1. Social media marketing is about building relationships with consumers

2. Social media marketing isn’t broadcasting

3. Social media is about likes, followers, subscribers and building a fan base

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.